Epic Gaming Moments Vol. 2: Id’s Identity (“Xenogears”)

“Xenogears”
was a PS1 game released by Squaresoft when it was still Squaresoft and everyone
in their offices was swimming in cash and virgins (you with me on the double
entendre?) á la Scrooge McDuck. This came out in 1998—the interim between
“Final Fantasy VII” and “Final Fantasy VIII”, two of the best-selling PS1
videogames ever.

You’d expect anything they release at that point to become a massive success, but though it
did make some pretty decent sales, no one gave a shit about "Xenogears" because “Final Fantasy
VIII” was looming on the horizon. This is a shame because, though
“Final Fantasy VIII” is my
favorite game of all time, “Xenogears” is pretty close, and I still think it
deserved more attention.

The
Context:

Also boobs. This game has boobs.

The best
aspect of this title wasn’t the flawed gameplay, certainly not the weird but interesting graphical clusterfuck (it mixed 3D background with 2D sprites) or
the awkward battle system I haven't completely figured out to date, but its story. I won’t go into details about the
story because it’s so mind-wreckingly complex you’d all close this page with
goo coming out of your ears. However, I do need to contextualize.

The game,
as any 90’s J-RPG is a linear story peppered with segments of battle, exploration and side-questing. We follow Fei, a young fighter suffering from amnesia (hey it was
the 90’s; it wasn’t as much of a cliché back then) who has to leave his
hometown after he accidentally blows it right the fuck up.

Okay that was a cliché back then too.

Fei could
pilot a ‘Gear’ called Weltall, basically a huge robot because this is Japan we're talking about, as he moved across the
vast futuristic fantasy world meeting likable characters and slowly uncovering a gigantic apocalyptic conspiracy.
However, one of the many villains is this one creepy pretty-boy called Id
who often shows up to fuck your party up in those tricky "You can't win this" battles that make you reset the game several times and look like a complete idiot. Id, like many other characters in the
game, also pilots a Gear—a blood-red one, in Id’s case.

The
Shitting of the Brix:

So halfway
through the first disc, Fei is secluded because he was previously injured in battle
while the rest of the party goes do J-RPG things. However, shit hits the fan
when Id shows up again and Fei is nowhere to be seen. Turns out that Id is
actually one of Fei’s many repressed personalities because this kid had one messed up youth. The cutscene in which we
see Weltal transform into Id’s red gear and we finally understand that the lead
character is also one of the main villains is still one of the most shocking twists
I have ever been subjected to, in any medium.

The cool
thing is that it’s not just the twist; what happened has very complex
ramifications that reveal more secrets about other characters and the overarching plot around Fei and the rest of the cast, not to mention the added drama that this character dichotomy involves.

Though this
was the most surprising turn in the story of “Xenogears”, it wasn’t the only
one. The plot continues to develop and grow to one motherfucker of a scope.
Anyone who is into sci-fi at all should play “Xenogears”, if only for the
plotting. It’s like a mix between Dan Simmons’ “Hyperion”, “Dune” and “Neon
Genesis Evangelion” on steroids.